Affiliations: [a] Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA | [b] Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA | [c] Alzheimer's Disease Center, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [d] University Memory and Aging Center, Case Western Reserve University-University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, USA | [e] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Correspondence:
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Authors for correspondence: Grace J. Petot, M.S., Assistant Professor Emerita, University Memory and Aging Center, 12200 Fairhill Road, Cleveland, OH 44120, USA. Tel.: +1 216 844 6335; Fax: +1 216 844 6339; E-mail: grace.petot@case.edu.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of height, Apolipoprotein E genotype (APOE) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using a case-control design, subjects were recruited from the research registry of the University Memory and Aging Center of Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland. On entry to the study, height was measured on 239 probable or possible AD patients and 341 healthy controls living in northeast Ohio. Risk of AD was modeled as a function of quartile of height, APOE genotype, years of education and year of birth. Analyses were stratified by gender. For men, cases were more likely to be shorter when compared to controls (p=0.001). There was only a small difference in mean height between AD cases and controls among women (p=0.05). For men, height in the highest quartile [>179.7 cm (70.75 in)] had a 59% lower risk of developing AD that in the lowest quartile [< 169.5 cm (66.75 in)], controlling for year of birth, and education (p=0.03). For women without an APOE ε4 allele, increasing height was associated with lower risk for AD (OR=0.88; p=0.01) but no significant association was found for women with at least one ε4 allele (OR=1.03; p=0.56).
